The Killing of the Phoenix
by Dorthey Star
Summary: [WIP] One by one members of the Order of the Phoenix are being killed. In the midst of all the turmoil, Lily learns that she is expecting Harry.
1. Marlene

The Killing of the Phoenix

Chapter One: Marlene

Nineteen-year-old Lily Potter was bored. Extremely bored. She was so bored that she almost wished she was back in class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She grinned to herself. She wasn't _that_ bored. Sighing, Lily got up from the couch that she had been laying on and wandered into the kitchen of the house she shared with her husband, James Potter. James and Lily were both Aurors for the Ministry of Magic. James was at the office- _doing paperwork, no doubt_, thought Lily- while she was at home being bored because she hadn't been feeling well that morning. 

          Lily opened the refrigerator, trying to decide what to attempt to fix for dinner. She was no great shakes at cooking; most of her meals ended up burnt. There was a loud _crack!_ behind her and Lily knew someone had Apparated in. She flew around, hoping to see James, but found Sirius Black standing there instead.

          "Oh, it's just you," Lily said, try her hardest not to sound too disappointed. After all, Sirius _was _her friend, so she shouldn't sound disappointed in seeing him.

          "Your lack of enthusiasm hurts, my dearest Lily," Sirius said, trying to sound hurt, but not succeeding. Lily just laughed. 

          "I'm sorry I wasn't properly enthused, Padfoot, but I was hoping you'd be James. He didn't come home on his lunch break like he promised he would." Lily closed the door to the refrigerator and sat down at the kitchen table. Sirius joined her, a sad look crossing his face. 

          "There was another murder," he said. "And in broad daylight! We've been busy all day. My shift was supposed to end two hours ago!"  
          "Who was it? Oh, I should have gone into work! My upset stomach got better around lunch," Lily moaned. She buried her head in her arms, feeling suddenly guilty. 

          "It was the McKinnons." Sirius sighed heavily. He suddenly felt very, very tired and very, very old. Then in a soft voice he added, "There was nothing you could have done to save her, Lils."

          "Marlene?" Lily said, looking up with a look of horror on her face. Lily had gotten close to the older witch in the year she'd known her.

          "I'm sorry, Lils," Sirius whispered. "She'd been on duty late last night and got in at dawn. I guess she was too tired to remember to activate the wards. No one thought…in broad daylight!" Sirius hung his head and Lily knew he was trying his hardest not to cry. She reached over and put her arms around him. The tears had just started to fall for both of them when a _crack!_ sounded. Lily jumped up and threw herself at James, who had just gotten there. Although it hadn't been a conscious thought, she had worried about him all day. James wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly as she cried into his shoulder.

          "I'm assuming you told her about the McKinnons?" James asked tiredly. Sirius nodded and James mouthed _thank you_ at him.  He'd been worried about telling her. Two more loud _cracks!_ announced the arrival of Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, both of whom looked pale and very shaken. 

          The five friends had been members of the Order of the Phoenix for a year now. It had become ritual that every time an Order member died, the five friends would meet together and reminisce. Lily pulled away from James and hugged Remus and Peter. 

          "Chinese or pizza?" Lily asked. Any desire to attempt to cook that she'd had earlier was gone.

          "Both! I'm starved!" Sirius said, his old grin coming back.

          "Remember the last Order meeting? When we ordered Chinese?" Remus asked, grinning. 

          "Marlene sneaked some of the Chinese food onto Mad-Eye's plate after he had refused to eat any," Lily giggled.

          "Mad-Eye was furious with her!" Peter laughed.

          "Meetings won't be the same without her," Lily said sadly. An hour later, when the pizza and Chinese were brought back to the Potter's house, the friends settled themselves in the living room. Lily, who had been digging in the spare room for her photo albums, stopped dead in her tracks when she entered the living room. Her stomach gave a nasty lurch when she smelled the Chinese food. Dropping the albums into a nearby chair, Lily ran towards the nearest bathroom. James and Sirius exchanged a worried look before James hurried to the bathroom where his wife was getting sick. 

          "Lils? Are you all right?"  he asked. She leaned back and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. 

          "I'm fine. The smell of the Chinese food just upset my stomach, that's all," Lily said. James stood up and helped her up.

          "Just like the bacon did this morning? Lils, please go to the doctor tomorrow. For me?" he asked. She sighed.

          "For you, James. But I'm only taking an hour or two off of work," she said. He hugged her. 

          "I love you, Lils. I was so worried about you today when we found out about Marlene. He struck in broad daylight. I don't know what I'd do without you," James said in an uncharacteristic burst of sincerity. 

          "I love you, too, James," Lily sniffed, the tears threatening to pour. James leaned in to kiss her, but she stopped him. "Let me at least brush my teeth, will you?" Lily laughed when James looked disappointed.

        "I'll go make sure Sirius eats all the Chinese," James grinned. Lily reached for her tooth brush as James went back into the living room.

**Disclaimer:** none of the characters, places, events, and etc. belong to me. They belong to JKR, Warner Brothers, Scholastic Books and other people, I'm sure.

**Author's Note: **and so ends chapter one. Coming in chapter two: Lily goes to the doctor and finds out exactly why she was having such an upset stomach. Thank you for reading. Please review.  


	2. Lily's Big News

The Killing of the Phoenix 

Chapter Two: Lily's Big News

Lily sat on the edge of the chair, waiting for her doctor to come back. _He's been gone at least ten minutes, _she thought grumpily to herself, _what could possibly be taking him this long? _She sighed and picked up one of the childrens' books that was laying on a table beside the chairs. She grinned and amused herself for several minutes by reading it. The door opened and Lily dropped the book in surprise. When she saw the doctor, she jumped up. 

          "Well? Do you know why I've been so sick lately?" Lily asked.

          "As a matter of fact I do, Mrs. Potter. Congratulations. You're pregnant," he said, smiling at her. Lily blinked and stared at him. 

          "Pregnant?" she asked.

          "Yes. You're about two months along," he said. Reaching over to the far side of the counter, he pulled three pamphlets from a display. "Go home and read these, and I'll see you in a month."

          "Uh, ok," Lily said, blinking. She slowly walked out the door. Once she got to the Apparation point in the lobby, Lily Apparated to the Apparation point at the Ministry of Magic. James came hurrying towards her. 

          "Lils!" He called out and hugged her. "What'd the doctor say? Are you all right? Why are you crying?" Silent tears and started falling from her eyes. James conjured a tissue for her.

          "Thanks," she said, and wiped her eyes. "Can we go to one of our cubicles to discuss this?"

          "If you want to," James said, leading her to the lift. "Is it bad?" The worry was evident in his voice. Lily shook her head. Once they were settled in James's cubicle, Lily began to talk.

          "I'm…pregnant," she said. James looked stunned, but his face soon broke out in a grin. "Oh James. It is wonderful and  everything…but can you imagine bringing a baby into a world like this? That's why I was crying. I don't know if I could think of a worse time to have a child." Lily started crying softly. James got off the desk where he'd been sitting and hugged Lily. He couldn't think of anything to say because there was nothing. 

          "Hey James, have you seen-" started Sirius when he walked into the cubicle, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lily crying. "Is everything all right?" Lily looked up at him with her red face and puffy, blood shot eyes. 

          "Looks like you're going to be a godfather, Padfoot," she smiled. Sirius broke out in a grin and jumped up and down. 

          "Are you starting to regret deciding that he was a good choice for godfather?" James asked, laughing, as Sirius pulled him up and started making him jump up and down. Lily grinned.

          "As long as he doesn't do that to me, I'm not." The fire in the small fireplace in the cubicle turned green and Frank Longbottom's face appeared in fire. He looked very tried.

          "Hello, Frank," James said. Lily got up from his chair.

          "I'm going to head back to my own cubicle," she said, giving him a quick kiss. 

          "You might as well stay, Lily. You, too, Sirius. That way I won't have to tell you two later. It's just easier for me," Frank said. James conjured up two more chairs and they sat down. 

          "What's up, Frank?" James said. He reached over and took Lily's hand in his own. 

          "Turns out the wards _had_ been activated. Some Muggles that lived around there said that they'd seen the house briefly glow," Frank said grimly. 

          "So that means that he knew how to take them off?" Sirius said. Frank nodded. 

          "We have no idea how. Only…certain people…know how to activate and take off the wards," he sighed. "I've just talked to Fabian Prewett and he doesn't know how Voldemort could know unless there's a traitor. Everyone was tested for loyalty, though, so I don't know how there could be one. I've got to be going. I've been using the fireplace at the McKinnons, and Mad-Eye is telling me it's time to get going. I'll see you three later. Take care," Frank said. 

          "You, too, Frank," Lily said. The other two agreed and Frank's head disappeared from the fire. Lily sighed and James gave her a hug. The three sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about everything Frank had told them. Sirius stood up. 

          "I need to be going. I've still got lots of paper work to do before tonight," he said.  He hugged Lily. "Congratulations, again, Lils." 

          "Thanks," Lily smiled as he left the cubicle. She turned back to James and smiled at him. "Can you believe you're going to be a _father_?" James grinned broadly. 

          "Not in the least. But I'm so happy, Lily," he said.  He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her. 

          "Hey, no snogging while a duty," a voice called, laughter evidence in his voice. James looked up and, upon seeing that it was just Remus, rudely gestured at him. 

          "Remus!" Lily squealed and jumped out of her chair. She hugged him. "Guess what! I'm going to have a baby!"

          "Congratulations," Remus grinned, then added, "Oh dear, a mini Prongs running around. That will be interesting." James mock glared at him.

          "Hey, a mini Prongs is better than a full sized Padfoot," he said. Remus paused for a moment, pretending to think. 

          "Very true. Let's be glad we don't have another one of those," he laughed. 

          "I HEARD THAT!" called a voice from across the room. James stood on his chair and saw that Sirius, whose cubicle was on the other side of the room, had done the same. James grinned at him.

          "Hey, we said another. We never said _anything_ about regretting the one we have!" 

          "POTTER! BLACK!" a voice growled at the doorway. James and Sirius turned to see Mad-Eye Moody standing in the doorway.

          "Sorry!" they called out to him, and got off their chairs. Lily giggled. She kissed James on the cheek. 

          "I'm going over to my own cubicle," she said and walked out of the cubicle, still giggling. Lily walked over to her cubicle and sat down at the desk. There was a knock on the side of the opening and she turned. Alice Longbottom, who had the cubicle between James and Lily, was standing there. 

          "I heard your big news, Lily. Congrats," she said, hugging the younger woman warmly. 

          "Thanks, Alice," Lily said, smiling. "How's your mother doing? Is she still ill?" Alice sighed and leaned on the edge of Lily's desk. 

          "She's not doing really great. The doctor's aren't expecting her to last more than a week or so." 

          "I'm so sorry!" Lily exclaimed and hugged Alice. 

          "It's all right. It will be good to see her not suffering anymore. Frank should be back soon, so I'm going to wait for him." Alice left the office and Lily sat back down at her desk. She pulled a picture off the wall in front of her. It had been taken her Seventh Year at Hogwarts. She and James (Head Girl and Boy) Sirius, Remus, and Peter were all sitting squashed together on one of the couches in Gryffindor Commonroom, and all were laughing. Picture James kept alternating between mussing his hair up with his hand and kissing Picture Lily on the cheek. Picture Lily would blush and give Picture James a half hug. Picture Sirius kept putting bunny ears up on an unaware Picture James. Picture Remus kept tickling Picture Sirius and Picture Peter just smiled, looking happy. Lily smiled at the picture and put it back on the wall. There was another knock on the cubicle and Lily turned around. James was standing in the doorway.

          "C'mon, Lils, it's quitting time," he said, holding out his hand to help her up. She took his hand and the left the office together, after waving good bye to Sirius, who had another hour of work left. 

**Disclaimer:** none of the characters, places, events, and etc. belong to me. They belong to JKR, Warner Brothers, Scholastic Books and other people, I'm sure.

**Author's Note: ** and so ends chapter two. Coming in Chapter Three: The first Order of the Phoenix meeting without Marlene, Lily's Big News is announced, and, oh dear, another death. Thanks a bunch for reading. Please review.    


	3. The Innocents

"The Killing of the Phoenix"

 Chapter Three: The Innocents 

Lily smiled happily as the other women around her laughed and talked amongst themselves. 

            "So, Lils, how does it feel to be having the baby of the infamous playboy James Potter?" Lucinda Howard asked. She and Kate Bones, both fellow Aurors of Lily, had been responsible for throwing her a surprise baby shower. Lily laughed.

            "Unreal. It's almost as unreal as our wedding was- when I finally snagged the 'infamous playboy James Potter.' He seems really excited about it- almost more excited than I am," Lily said. James had spent the last week and a half getting the baby's room all ready; the walls were painted a nice neutral shade of yellow, the crib and changing table were all set up and fully stocked, and the dresser was even filled with unisex clothes. Lily, however, suspected that the child would be a boy and a Quidditch player at that, from the way he kicked. James told Lily that he didn't care what sex the baby was, but she knew he secretly wanted a boy so that he could carry on the Potter tradition at Hogwarts. 

            "Is it true that Alice Longbottom had her baby?" Leïla, the newest member of the Auror team, asked. Lucinda and Kate exchanged glances. 

            "Did something happen?" Lily asked, setting her mug of tea down on the table and standing up. 

            "Frank had to leave the office early last night because Alice was having contractions….but we haven't heard from them since…oh, Lily, don't look like that. I'm sure they've just been too busy with the new baby and all to contact anyone…Don't get so upset Lily, you'll harm the baby," Lucinda said. Lily turned pale and started to shake. 

            "Sit down, Lils, drink some of your tea. Calm down, honey. Luce, go get James, will you? Lily needs him. If she doesn't calm down she'll hurt the baby," Kate said. 

            "Quit talking about me as if I'm not here," Lily snapped. _Please god,_ she thought, _Please let them be all right. You of all people know how much happiness those two- or anybody these days- deserves_. Moments later James arrived. He looked around the room and quickly spotted Lily. In three strides he was by her side and hugging her. "Tell me they're all right," Lily said. 

            "Shhh, calm down. Let's get you home and into bed. Sirius promised he'd make you some zucchini bread tonight, remember?" James led Lily to the hallway where the fireplace was and they went home.  
  
            Lily looked around the bedroom while she waited for Sirius or James to come upstairs. She plucked nervously at the blue silk sheets. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the door opened and both James and Sirius came in. They each sat on one side of Lily and hugged her. In that moment, she knew. They'd lost another Order member- possibly two- and an innocent life. Lily broke down into sobs, not only for Alice and Frank, but for the baby. She suddenly didn't want the child to come, and to have to grow up in a world where innocent babies were killed before they were born.

            And that's when she felt it. It was time. Her child was on its way. 

*** * * ***

**DISCLAIMER:** all characters/events/places/etc. belong to J.K. Rowling and I am merely borrowing them for my own amusement. 

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **Next chapter (hopefully): Harry is born, horrible news comes, and tragedy may or may not strike. So this chapter didn't go quite to plan…but I have new plans for this story. Muahahaha.


End file.
